Does New Urbanization Promote Urban Metabolic Efficiency?

Abstract

Existing studies have paid less attention to the impact of new urbanization (NU) on urban metabolic efficiency (UME). This paper empirically tests the mechanism and the effect of NU on UME based on China’s panel data from 2008 to 2020, using China’s NU pilot as a quasi-natural experiment. The study draws the following conclusions: (1) NU can significantly promote UME. (2) NU can promote UME for cities in neighboring regions. (3) The effect of NU on UME presents the heterogeneous characteristics of eastern region > central region > western region, non-urban agglomeration cities > urban agglomeration cities, and is greater in central cities than in non-central cities. (4) Mechanism analysis shows that NU can promote UME through six paths: promoting urban–rural integration and regional synergistic development, reducing urban sprawl and energy mismatch, strengthening urban–rural population mobility, and green innovation division of labor. The above results are not only conducive to incorporating UME into NU’s appraisal system but also to making UME, which can reflect the quality of urban development in a more comprehensive and systematic way, a performance measurement tool for NU.